MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) — Russia respects the will of people in southeastern Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.
"Elections in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in general were well organized, the turnout was high. We respect the will of the inhabitants of the South-East. The elected representatives have obtained a mandate to solve practical problems to restore normal life in the regions," Foreign Ministry's statement on the elections in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions said.
"We are ready to work with our foreign partners to further contribute to the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine," the statement concluded.
On Sunday, voters in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions elected the regional leaders and legislative bodies.
Kiev and several western countries said they would not recognize the results of this vote and repeatedly called it illegitimate. Russia, on the contrary, has expressed its intention to recognize the elections and emphasized that refusal to recognize elections would run counter to the Minsk protocol and undermine efforts to reach peace settlement in the country.
